360 degrees represents "Infinity and Beyond!"

This above video is my epigraph. Upon reading Emerson's work I kept thinking back to learning about fractals in my AP Trigonometry class back in the day when I was still a size 4. Many years, and many pounds later I can still recall the fascination of the continuity of shapes, especially the circle and how they really are represented everywhere. For example, clouds, brocolli, snowflakes and shells are all fractals and all a part of nature. Now on to the important stuff:


"Nature centres into balls,

And her proud ephemerals,

Fast to surface and outside,

Scan the profile of the sphere;

Knew they what that signified,

A new genesis were here."



Emerson's epigraph was purposely placed at the beginning of "Circles" not to simply impress the reader, which no doubt he has, but to set the tone and introduce the concept that there is an infinite number of sphere's represented in everything, especially in nature. This "primary figure" is more than a geometric shape. It is an idea. A circle, just as an idea, has no end, just a new beginning.



The idea of inifity has always perplexed me because I really don't think a human is supposed to think in those terms. We are born, we live, we die...the end. Emerson has proved this is not the case. Everything lasts forever, and it is through nature that we can see this. So go back to the being born, the living and then the dying: one person may cease to exist but there is always something left in their place such as offspring. For instance, my mom and dad did some procreating, had three kiddos, now one of them has a bun in the oven. For my sake I'm going to claim that my family is going to live forever, but if that weren't the case then I would go on to say that someday my parents will no longer be here, leaving their offspring, who would then leave their offspring, who would then leave their offspring, etc etc etc. It's an endless cycle.



The circle that represents man is "a self-evolving circle, which, from a ring imperceptibly small, rushes on all sides outwards to new and larger cirlces, and that without end." I like this. I am thinking of it as in terms of the "ripple effect." Throw a stone into a pond and see the continuity of the small waves as they move farther and farther from the point of impact the circles become larger and slightly evolved. Think of the point of origin as an idea, the idea grows and reaches greater distances. These ripples, similarily to nature, are new, different and "In nature every moment is new; the past is always swallowed and forgotten; the coming only is sacred."

Emerson also states that "conversation is a game of circles." A tree's lifespan can be determined by how many rings, or cirlces, in its trunk. The more rings it has the older and larger it is and the more shade it casts. Conversation can be measured in similar fashion. The maturity of the topic and the more understanding of "love, faith, truth of character, the aspiration of man" the more it will be able to influence.

Let me conclude by saying that God and nature are unending. The circle's that make up everything are everywhere whether they are prominently seen or conceptual. Emerson writes St. Augustine's idea of the "nature of God as a circle whose centre was everywhere, and its circumference nowhere." This is still a little complex for me, but it makes the idea of God a little more relatable. He goes on to say that "we learn that God is that he is in me; and that all things are shadows of him." So as one who is a mere shadow of nature and God I leave you with a fun video clip from 24 Hour Party People that shows one "circle" of having an idea, acting upon it, seeing God which then leads to new ideas. Just a warning: there is strong language and marijuana usage represented which of course I'm not an advocate of either.